For the Polyketide Synthase lectures, how deep should I understand it? I watched it twice, but still couldn't fully grasp the details and the mechanisms.
I was also wondering what you think about taking Chem 3B lecture this summer? It won't count toward graduation at this point, but is suggested in the Synthetic Biology track. I wasn't able to take it previously and won't have time to take in later on. Do you think I should take it just to get more organic chemistry knowledge in case grad schools want me to have more chemistry background? Or does it not matter to grad schools whether I have it or not? I am not sure at this point what major to apply to, but am thinking bioengineering, chemical engineering, or related fields. I am also waiting to see who the teacher for this summer is.
Thanks a lot!
Emily Kao
Hi Emily, You are addressing three goals simultaneously, and I wish to discuss them separately with you.1. Most important, obtain enough chemistry background for your career: grad school or industry.2. Learn the chemistry knowledge taught in Chem3B3. Get a deep understanding of the chemistry involved in polyketide synthase reaction mechanisms.
# For 1, the chemistry knowledge taught in Chem3B is essential for your career. Most of us went through the course and memorized all the details but completely forgot about them half a year later. The concepts are useful, but unless you are into the field of organic synthesis, probably you won't need to remember the details. The industry and grad school certainly don't care whether you have taken Chem3B or not: a) this course is too junior. b) as long as you demonstrate sufficient chemistry knowledge, you are good: they probably consider that as even more powerful evidence that you are great!
# For 2, I want to differentiate between taking Chem3B course officially and understanding the knowledge taught in Chem3B. If you feel some difficulties, yet decided that you are mainly interested in the chemistries covered in your polyketide synthase research. I can easily go through the chemistry reactions in one afternoon with you. And I assure you it won't impede your research (because we have gone beyond the chemistry figured out by other researchers already). If you are excited about the amazing chemistry and feel that you wish to gain a more systematic understanding (which is indeed useful for gaining deep insight into your potential research), you can always go to UC Berkeley webcast: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1E5A0E0705BA555E.The complete Chem3B lecture is there, you don't have the pressure of memorizing stuff and tests. But you can go through the 26 lectures in probably less than two weeks. And definitely you can grasp the concepts fairly well.This is simply a question of opportunity cost: as time goes by, you will start to realize that you cannot learn EVERYTHING. So depending on your energy and priority, sometimes you need to pick things according to your need.
# For 3, a deep understanding of polyketide synthase chemistry definitely doesn't stop at pushing the arrows and drawing chemistry on paper. Actually you can go real deep into quantum chemistry, structural biology, statistical mechanics, molecular mechanics and spectrocopy in order to gain a partial of the pictures involved in protein enzymatic reactions. It's endless. Many of the times, we are just scratching the surface. So a quick answer: yes, you do need to understand at least the chemical mechanisms drawn in the polyketide synthase lecture pretty well, but it seems more efficient if I should help you. Come to my tomorrow's qual practice and I actually would go through the chemistry for sure! If it still feel pretty vague, you may skip this part first and we can discuss after my qual.
BTW, the summer schools are usually taught by teachers not so great. But check it out. Also you can probe into the online lecture videos quickly and give yourself a feel of what the course is about. As I said, as long as your energy permits, it's actually useful knowledge to have, no matter you are going into pharmaceutical industry or graduate school.
For the Polyketide Synthase lectures, how deep should I understand it? I watched it twice, but still couldn't fully grasp the details and the mechanisms.
I was also wondering what you think about taking Chem 3B lecture this summer? It won't count toward graduation at this point, but is suggested in the Synthetic Biology track. I wasn't able to take it previously and won't have time to take in later on. Do you think I should take it just to get more organic chemistry knowledge in case grad schools want me to have more chemistry background? Or does it not matter to grad schools whether I have it or not? I am not sure at this point what major to apply to, but am thinking bioengineering, chemical engineering, or related fields. I am also waiting to see who the teacher for this summer is.
Thanks a lot!
Emily Kao
Hi Emily,
You are addressing three goals simultaneously, and I wish to discuss them separately with you.1. Most important, obtain enough chemistry background for your career: grad school or industry.2. Learn the chemistry knowledge taught in Chem3B3. Get a deep understanding of the chemistry involved in polyketide synthase reaction mechanisms.
# For 1, the chemistry knowledge taught in Chem3B is essential for your career. Most of us went through the course and memorized all the details but completely forgot about them half a year later. The concepts are useful, but unless you are into the field of organic synthesis, probably you won't need to remember the details. The industry and grad school certainly don't care whether you have taken Chem3B or not: a) this course is too junior. b) as long as you demonstrate sufficient chemistry knowledge, you are good: they probably consider that as even more powerful evidence that you are great!
# For 2, I want to differentiate between taking Chem3B course officially and understanding the knowledge taught in Chem3B. If you feel some difficulties, yet decided that you are mainly interested in the chemistries covered in your polyketide synthase research. I can easily go through the chemistry reactions in one afternoon with you. And I assure you it won't impede your research (because we have gone beyond the chemistry figured out by other researchers already). If you are excited about the amazing chemistry and feel that you wish to gain a more systematic understanding (which is indeed useful for gaining deep insight into your potential research), you can always go to UC Berkeley webcast: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1E5A0E0705BA555E.The complete Chem3B lecture is there, you don't have the pressure of memorizing stuff and tests. But you can go through the 26 lectures in probably less than two weeks. And definitely you can grasp the concepts fairly well.This is simply a question of opportunity cost: as time goes by, you will start to realize that you cannot learn EVERYTHING. So depending on your energy and priority, sometimes you need to pick things according to your need.
# For 3, a deep understanding of polyketide synthase chemistry definitely doesn't stop at pushing the arrows and drawing chemistry on paper. Actually you can go real deep into quantum chemistry, structural biology, statistical mechanics, molecular mechanics and spectrocopy in order to gain a partial of the pictures involved in protein enzymatic reactions. It's endless. Many of the times, we are just scratching the surface. So a quick answer: yes, you do need to understand at least the chemical mechanisms drawn in the polyketide synthase lecture pretty well, but it seems more efficient if I should help you. Come to my tomorrow's qual practice and I actually would go through the chemistry for sure! If it still feel pretty vague, you may skip this part first and we can discuss after my qual.
BTW, the summer schools are usually taught by teachers not so great. But check it out. Also you can probe into the online lecture videos quickly and give yourself a feel of what the course is about. As I said, as long as your energy permits, it's actually useful knowledge to have, no matter you are going into pharmaceutical industry or graduate school.
Yours,
Jingwei Zhang
2015 UCB/UCSF Joint Bioengineering Program PhD Candidate | Researcher, Keasling Lab |